


nothing can touch where we've been tonight

by orphan_account



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: After 6B, All-Knowing Deaton, Anchors, Angst with a Happy Ending, Declarations Of Love, Hurt Theo Raeken, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Liam-centric, Love Confessions, M/M, Pining Liam, Worried Liam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-10-23
Packaged: 2019-01-21 23:29:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12468384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Theo’s heavy breathing filled the room. Liam glanced down to see that the Chimera was already healing, skin knitting back together and veins fading back to normal color. He also noticed that at some point during the surgery, one of his hands had gone from being placed on Theo’s shoulder to gripped tightly in his hand—but Theo showed no sign of wanting to pull away, so Liam didn’t either.





	nothing can touch where we've been tonight

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first Thiam fic, I love this duo so so much and hopefully I'll write more for them in the future. I feel like I may have written Theo a little bit OOC, but we'll see. If you enjoy please leave kudos!

When his phone rang at three in the morning on a Tuesday, yanking him out of a peaceful sleep, Liam’s first coherent thought was _who’s dead?_

It was pretty rational, all things considered. Enough bad things had happened in the last few years of Liam’s life for that to be the default place his mind zoomed to. Especially when he squinted at his phone’s bright screen and saw that it was Doctor Deaton calling. A pit of dread immediately settled in Liam’s stomach, causing his hands to shake a little as he pressed the green answer button. There hadn’t been many incidents since Scott had left Beacon Hills, a few hunters and rogue omegas here and there, but it was nothing Liam, Mason, and Corey couldn’t handle—so for Deaton to be the one reaching out to him first, this late in the night, Liam couldn’t help but think that something really bad might have happened.

“Hello?” Liam asked after the call picked up, hating the unsteady way his voice came out.

“Liam, it’s Deaton. I’m sorry to be calling so late, but it’s… sort of an emergency. Can you come down to the clinic? As soon as possible?” Deaton replied quickly. His words did nothing to ease Liam’s now near-paralyzing worry that someone was seriously hurt.

“Yeah, of course,” Liam responded hurriedly, already pulling on a sweatshirt and a pair of sneakers. “I’ll be there in two minutes.”

After ending the call, Liam jostled his bedroom window open as quietly as possible and slid out. It was a long drop to the ground, but he’d done this enough times for late-night rendezvous with the pack to get good at it, and he landed swiftly on his feet without a problem. He broke into a sprint, able to go much faster thanks to his werewolf abilities, and arrived at the clinic in even less time than he thought.

The fear of his friends being hurt was one of Liam’s biggest motivators—it always had been, even before he was bitten. But now, that fear was more real and _possible_ , and since Scott had left Liam in charge of the pack in his absence, it meant that if someone had gotten hurt, it was Liam’s fault. His mind raced with all the possibilities of what he might find inside the clinic; Mason or Corey, lying on the table with blood pouring out of them, or Deaton with a supernatural mythology textbook in hand and a grim look on his face, or something even worse?

Worse. It was definitely worse, Liam thought once he entered the clinic and froze immediately as his eyes fell on the scene. The door smacked him as it attempted to fall shut, but he barely even flinched. He was barely even _breathing._

Sitting on the metal operating table, gazing at Liam with a blinding grin, skin riddled with bullet holes and veins a sickly green color, was Theo Raeken.

Liam’s brain was short circuiting. He hadn’t seen Theo in two months, not since the night of the fight at the hospital. Not since the night they’d shared _together_. Not since Liam had woken up alone in his bed the next morning, confused and heartbroken. And here Theo sat, looking like death itself, shooting Liam that dazzling smile like no time had passed at all. Like nothing had changed.

“You gonna shut the door?” Theo asked, startling Liam back to reality.

“Uh,” he replied unhelpfully, thrown off by how familiar the teasing, slightly sarcastic tone of Theo’s voice was. They had done this dance a thousand times, poking fun at each other and pretending they meant it, but one look at Theo’s injuries told Liam that now was not really the time or place for it. He stepped into the clinic, forcing himself not to rush over to Theo’s side, just as Deaton entered from the supply closet.

“Good, you’re here,” Deaton sighed, his hands full of sharp metal tools that scared Liam half to death. “I’m going to need you to hold Theo down. This is going to be very painful.”

Liam swallowed hard. This was not at all how he had imagined his reunion with Theo.

“Let’s just get this over with,” Theo shrugged. Liam took a deep breath, shaking the nerves from his body and placing two careful hands on Theo’s shoulders as he laid back against the table. Fire blazed where skin met skin, and Liam noticed for the first time that Theo was shirtless. He averted his eyes as casually as possible, hoping Theo was too dazed from his injuries to pick up on the falter of Liam’s heart.

Seeing the Chimera again, even in an odd situation like this, eased something deep inside Liam that had been tied tight since the war. Since Theo had _left_. It only solidified what the Beta had known all along—that Theo was his anchor. That these last few months without him had been hell. That time had not dissipated all his feelings for the older boy, if anything, it had made them stronger.

“Ready?” Deaton asked both boys, who met eyes before nodding. Liam tried to silently communicate what he couldn’t say out loud— _I got you. You’re going to be fine._

Without another warning, Deaton began to dig into Theo’s chest with a small scalpel. His wrecked screams echoed in the small clinic and Liam pressed down harder on his shoulders. He hated seeing Theo like this, in so much pain. It made his heart ache, and all he wanted to do was lunge forward and knock the knife out of Deaton’s hands because he was hurting Theo, dammit. But he knew that unless they got all the poison bullets out of Theo’s body, it would only get worse. So he screwed his eyes shut and tried not to listen.

It felt like hours had passed before Deaton finally announced that he was done, dropping the last bullet into the bucket with a clang. He gathered up the bloody tools in his arms and headed into the back room to wash up.

Theo’s heavy breathing filled the room. Liam glanced down to see that the Chimera was already healing, skin knitting back together and veins fading back to normal color. He also noticed that at some point during the surgery, one of his hands had gone from being placed on Theo’s shoulder to gripped tightly in his hand—but Theo showed no sign of wanting to pull away, so Liam didn’t either.

“So,” Liam started, clearing his throat. “What happened?”

“What do you think?” Theo retorted easily. “Hunters. I was minding my own business and they came after me. Followed me to my truck and put two dozen bullets in my chest.”

“And you drove all the way here? While bleeding out?”

Theo looked up at him, rolling his eyes. A small smile ghosted on his lips before disappearing. “No, dumbass. I was already on my way here. Two miles outside of town. Don’t worry, the hunters headed north. I think they were amateurs.”

Liam’s heart skipped a beat at Theo’s words. He was coming here? Part of Liam hoped that Theo had been coming to see him, to apologize for leaving. But the other part of Liam was angry that he ever left in the first place—and that part won. He tore his hand from Theo’s, ignoring the frown that flashed across the older boy’s face and crossed to the other side of the room.

“Why did they follow you?” Liam asked, anger already creeping into his voice.

“I don’t know. They might’ve seen me flash my eyes.”

“Why were you flashing your eyes?” Liam fired back.

“Because it’s night? I can see better in the dark with my Chimera eyes.” Theo explained, shrugging like that answered everything—and, okay, it kind of did, but Liam wanted to know more than just what had happened tonight. He wanted to know everything, like why Theo left and what he’d been doing the past two months. But he just couldn’t bring himself to ask.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” Liam muttered. He tried to give Theo a look that said, _here’s the signal, I still care about you, can you please make the first move?_

And Theo got it. Just like he got everything else about Liam—easily, without hesitation. He knew exactly what he was thinking, when he was thinking it. “I’m glad you’re okay too. You know, that you haven’t gotten yourself killed while I’ve been gone.” Theo said, smiling like they were sharing a joke.

“Yeah, no thanks to you,” Liam retorted. “You left me all by myself here. I’m the only wolf in our pack now, Mason and Corey are smart but they can’t fight. I’ve had to do everything by myself, with the occasional help from Parrish.”

“What do you mean, everything? Has something else big happened?” Theo asked, his eyebrows pulling together in worry.

“No,” Liam sighed. “But it would be nice to know that if something big did happen, you could help.”

“I _can_ help,” Theo scoffed. He pushed himself back up into a sitting position to make eye contact with Liam, which felt like it was searing into his soul. “All you have to do is call, you know. And I’d be here.”

Liam gulped, knowing that this was Theo’s way of saying _I care about you too_. So he gathered up his courage, and before he could chicken out, blurted, “Then why’d you leave in the first place?”

Theo inhaled sharply, like he wasn’t expecting Liam to jerk their conversation in that direction so early. They’d always talked about their feelings without _actually_ talking about them, so it was strange for Liam to be so blunt about it. “I don’t know.”

Liam blinked at the Chimera. “What do you mean, you don’t know?”

“I mean I don’t know,” Theo huffed. “I freaked out, I guess. As soon as I left, I wanted to turn back, but it was too late.”

“You… freaked out? Because of me?” Liam wasn’t sure if he wanted to know the answer. Freaking out usually wasn’t a good thing. It meant that something happened that night that Theo didn’t like. Maybe he didn’t like Liam, and regretted what they did. _God, he hoped Theo didn’t regret it._

“No. Yes. I guess so.” Theo sighed, running a hand through his hair. (He hadn’t cut it, Liam realized. It was just as long as it was two months ago. Good. He liked it like that.) “I was just… scared. You, of all people, know I’m not very good with- with the emotional stuff. And taking Gabe’s pain, for one, was a lot, and then…”

Theo trailed off, leaving the most important thing unspoken. But Liam couldn’t read between the lines anymore—he didn’t want to. He wanted to know, without a doubt, that Theo felt the same way about him. “And then?” he prompted. He didn’t want to push too hard, but this was big. It needed to be said.

“ _And then_ we had sex. And I didn’t regret it, not at all, because god, I liked you so much— _I still do_ —and I was terrified because I’d never felt like that about anybody, and I didn’t know if you felt the same way or if it was just heat of the moment and then I got in my head and I was _scared_. So I left. But these last two months without you have been… torture.” At the end of his rant, Theo took a deep breath and then glanced up at Liam a second too late, like he was worried he’d said too much. His face was carefully blank, but Liam had always been good at reading him, and he knew, then, that Theo meant it all. And there were still other things they needed to talk about, of course, but right now? All Liam really wanted to do right now was crash his lips onto Theo’s and kiss him until he was dizzy.

So that’s exactly what he did.

Theo gasped as their lips met, and it was messy and angry and charged with everything they felt for each other, hungry and soft at the same time. When the finally pulled apart for air, bodies still pressed together, foreheads still touching, hands still wandering, Liam breathed out, “Do you wanna—maybe—get out of the animal clinic? I have a guest bedroom. Or you could just sleep with me. Like, in my bed. I mean.”

Theo’s smile was blinding, and it made Liam smile too. He loved seeing Theo happy. He loved _Theo_. “I think that sounds good.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah."

“I think so too,” a third voice said, and both boys jumped apart like they’d been electrocuted, giving Deaton guilty smiles as he stood in the doorway of the supply closet, eyes wide but kind.

And so, Liam helped Theo off the table, because he was healed but still achy, and together, they headed back to Liam’s house to make up for lost time.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! My twitter is blakegrffin if you want to drop me some feedback, or you can do it in the comments.


End file.
